


Long Talks

by Lampshadez



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F, guys I swear Nicole is way more paranormal than we're led to believe, shooting mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-14
Updated: 2016-06-14
Packaged: 2018-07-15 03:12:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7204160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lampshadez/pseuds/Lampshadez
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wynonna runs into Nicole at the police station and may or may not let it slip to the tall redheaded bumper sticker that Waverly got shot.  Nicole confronts Waverly, who also confront Wynonna.  So many meaningful talks, you guys.  So many.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Long Talks

**Author's Note:**

> Please read!!! - So I've been a bit hesitant to post this because of what happened in Orlando over the weekend. It is an unbelievable tragedy. I'm a queer woman living in America so this hits particularly close to home, so I just want to mention that obviously, this fic references the shooting of an lgbtq+ character, and I completely understand if that's not something you may want to or be able to read right now. All that said, I know a lot of people watching this show and/or reading this are in the community and I just want to say that we're all hurting, but we're all in this together. If you need help, please seek it. If you need someone to talk to, I'm available (though I am new to this site so idk how messaging works but if there's a messaging feature I'm here!). Love is stronger than hate and it always will be. All that being said, also please look into how to contact your representatives (Americans) and tell them we need gun reform! Also, wherever you are, donate blood if you can! Obviously if you're not in the Orlando area it won't be for the victims of this tragedy, but it will help someone somewhere and it's a really good (and easy!) thing to do!
> 
> Okay, aside from that very important message, I also just wanna briefly talk about Nicole Haught. I've noticed she's been wearing a ring on her right hand in every scene she's in and what are the thoughts on this? Is it an aesthetic choice from actual fashionista Nicole Haught or is it some spooky Purgatory stuff? Please leave a comment with your thoughts on this specifically and also on this fic as a whole!
> 
> Okay that's it for notes, thanks for reading!

Nicole was pouring herself a cup of coffee – her second time refilling her travel mug that day, not that she was counting.  She looked over when she heard someone come into the little kitchen.

“Hey,” Nicole said warmly to Wynonna.  Again, not that she was counting, but this definitely wasn’t Wynonna’s first coffee break, either.

“Hi.”

“How are you holding up?” Nicole asked, taking the mug from Wynonna’s hand and pouring coffee into it, leaving room for whatever Wynonna wanted to add that Nicole would turn a blind eye to.

“Just dandy,” Wynonna said.

Nicole nodded, not really expecting a super straightforward answer.

“How’s Waverly doing?” Wynonna asked.  Nicole gave her a bit of a quizzical look.  “I’m maybe not the person she’s most open with.”

“And you think I am?”

Wynonna shrugged.  “She hangs out with you all the time.  And it’s different for her to talk to me about all this than it is for her to talk to you.”

Nicole nodded, smiling a bit to herself.  “Right.  I mean, she’s doing okay.  She’s trying, anyway.”  She smiled a bit wider.  “That’s kind of the thing with her, you know?  Everything can go to shit around her and she’s still positive and hopeful and good.”

Wynonna nodded.  “Too good for the likes of us.”

“I agree,” Nicole said.  “But, still, you should talk to her.  She may not say it, and neither may you, but you two are about as subtle as a brick to the face.  You need to talk to each other.  Just do it.”

“You are such a bumper sticker.”

Nicole shrugged.

“Seriously, you two together is way too much positivity in one place.”

Nicole laughed.

“That reminds me, actually,” Wynonna said.  “It’s been a while since Waverly broke up with Champ.”

“It has.”

“And you two have been hanging out for a while.”

“We have.”  Nicole looked at Wynonna with an uncertain and wary look.  She was out, that wasn’t what she was worried about.  But she didn’t know that Wynonna knew about them.

“Maybe Waverly should meet some new people.”

Nicole’s face fell a bit.  Wynonna didn’t know about them.

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” Wynonna said.  “I don’t know, maybe you know some people who’d go well with her?”

“Some people?”

Wynonna nodded.  “Yeah,” she said, clearly a bit uncomfortable.  “Your guy friends or lady friends or something.”

“You want me to set up Waverly with my gay friends?”

“Is that not cool to ask?” Wynonna asked, genuinely fearing having crossed a line.  “I just thought, I don’t know, if she had something fun in her life…”

“Fun,” Nicole said, through semi-gritted teeth.  “Got it.”

“Not too fun, though,” Wynonna said.  “She acts like she’s fine but I can tell her side is really bothering her.”

Nicole frowned.  “What happened to her side?”

“She got shot,” Wynonna said matter-of-factly, like she thought Nicole just needed reminding.

“She what?!”

**-WE-**

Waverly had just put a kettle on when she heard sirens outside.  They didn’t live close to their neighbors, so if sirens were close enough that they could be heard, the sirens were coming to the homestead.

She stood and went to the door, just in time to see Nicole practically slam the car door and storm, for lack of a better word, up to the door.

“Hey, you okay?” Waverly asked.  “What’s wrong?”

“Are _you_ okay?”

Waverly looked confused.

“I talked to Wynonna,” Nicole continued, extending her arms to Waverly.  She held her at arms’ length and looked her over, trying to see through her clothes somehow and assess the damage.  “You got shot?!”

“I got grazed,” Waverly said, wincing as she swiped at Nicole with her right arm.

“Waverly, a bullet went through at least part of your body,” Nicole said, taking her hands back.  “That is a big deal.”

Waverly avoided her gaze.  “I didn’t want to worry you.”

“Hiding the fact that you got shot is worrying,” Nicole said.  “Shit, Waves, are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Waverly said.  “It hurt like a bitch and it bled everywhere but it’s getting better.”

Nicole exhaled deeply, and it felt like the first time she’d breathed that afternoon.

“Shit.”  She wrapped an arm around Waverly, pulling her close and resting her forehead on Waverly’s head.  She felt her heart rate finally slow to a manageable level.

Waverly relaxed into Nicole’s arms.  Her wound was bothering her, but very few things really bothered her when she was with Nicole.  She could feel the pain of it, but it was like it didn’t matter because Nicole was there.

“What the hell happened?” Nicole asked.  She didn’t sound scared or worried anymore, just heartbroken.  It was sinking in that yes, Waverly had been shot and Nicole one, didn’t know about it and two, couldn’t do anything to stop it or undo it or make Waverly better.  Nicole had no idea how it happened, she had heard Wynonna say that Waverly had been shot and literally ran to her car.  Wynonna had called after her but Nicole had ignored her.

So it was sinking in that Waverly was in a lot more danger than Nicole realized, or at least was willing to admit.  And on top of that, Nicole had no idea what this danger was.  She knew that Waverly consulted for Black Badge but didn’t know or didn’t realize or didn’t see that Waverly would be in this kind of danger.  That scared her, as did the prospect of finding out that Waverly also hadn’t anticipated being in such danger.

Nicole knew from her own job that choosing to be in danger is very different than having it happen to you.  She didn’t want to imagine what the past twenty-four hours had been like for Waverly.  Her mind was racing.  She thought that, of the two of them, she was the one who was in danger.  She thought she was the one who this sort of thing would happen to, if it happened at all.  She had resigned herself to that fact, that if either of them were to be in a situation like this it would be her and not Waverly.  Never Waverly.

Waverly sighed.  Her voice broke a bit.  “I’m going to tell you everything.  It’s about time you know.  But can we just stay like this for a bit?  Please?”

“Of course.”

Nicole was a little ashamed to admit this, but for the first time and for a very brief moment, she seriously considered whether she really wanted to know or not.

**-WE-**

“Wow,” Nicole said, handing her empty mug to Waverly to be refilled.  “ _Wow._ ”

“Yeah,” Waverly said.  “I think that’s everything.  The curse, my family, Doc and Dolls.”

“Wow.”

“Are there any other words you’d like to throw in there?” Waverly asked, only half-joking.  She had been terrified about coming clean to Nicole since she had started getting to know Nicole.  She wasn’t sure what she expected, but she definitely expected more than one word.

“I don’t know,” Nicole offered.  “I’ve never heard of anything like this.”

“Dolls has,” Waverly offered.  “Obviously, with Black Badge.  It was in New Mexico and they wiped the town off the map.”

Nicole’s jaw dropped.

“Nicole, I have to do this,” Waverly said.  “I mean, we’ve never really had a choice in it but now, the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been.  We’re not just protecting ourselves and our land anymore.”

“They can drop bombs on New Mexico, but they can’t do that here,” Nicole said.  “We can try CSIS, I know Dolls gets mail from them, we can try our army, we can try-.”

“We can’t,” Waverly said.  “The more people in the military and the government that know about this, the more likely it is they give us the New Mexico treatment.”

“What the fuck was Wyatt thinking?” Nicole asked.

Waverly couldn’t help but laugh.  It was strange but not really out of place.  The shift from a super-serious talk about military action to such language about the late great Wyatt Earp was jarring.  She was terrified; any time she really talked about the curse and the future and her past she got this knot in her stomach that made it hard to breathe.  And that was still there now, no doubt, but having Nicole there made it a bit easier.

“I don’t know,” Waverly said.  She had often asked herself that very question, profanity and all, when she thought about the curse.  How could Wyatt Earp, legendary lawman, get so involved in such dark affairs?  “Maybe that it wouldn’t affect him, which as far as we know, it didn’t.  It affected us.”

“I’m sorry.”

Waverly looked at Nicole, like really looked at her.  Nicole was obviously confused, not like she didn’t understand but like this new information was so big and so much and so new that it was hard to wrap her head around.  But she looked like she believed Waverly, and that was invaluable to Waverly.

Also, Nicole didn’t pity Waverly.  Waverly got a lot of pity growing up, for having the runaway mom and the dead dad and the missing-and-presumed-dead sister and the crazy murderer sister.  She hated being pitied and belittled and seen as something in need of sympathy.  Nicole didn’t do that.  She was sorry that Waverly has gone through all that stuff, and that was a feeling of support, not pity.

“You believe me?”

“Of course I do,” Nicole said.  “All this stuff about demons and curses and witches and immortality spells is way above my head.  But I believe you and I trust you.  And, I’m in this with you.”

“I wasn’t sure you’d believe me.”

“If anyone else had told me, I wouldn’t have believed them, not at first,” Nicole said.  “But you…I trust you.  You’ve built your life around stopping this stupid curse, even when no one believed you.  Even when Wynonna wasn’t here.”

Waverly looked appreciate and like she was so, so grateful for Nicole.

“And, it explains all the weird shit in this town, so...”

Waverly laughed.  “Not everything.  How’d you get here?”

“I’m weird shit?”

“You being here is…odd.  You’re not local, you would’ve gone to school with me or Wynonna.”

“Speaking of Wynonna,” Nicole diverted.  “She asked me to set you up with some of my gay friends.”

“She what?”

Nicole laughed, but it was short.  “Yep.  She thinks you need some fun in your life, to counter all the rest of it.”

“Honestly, she’s the most oblivious person.”

“She really is,” Nicole said.  “But I’m proud of you for coming out to her.”

“I was going to tell her about us,” Waverly said.  “But Dolls interrupted with his whole ‘this was an assassination attempt’ thing and it felt like the right moment had passed.”

“And what exactly would you have told her about us?”

“What do you want me to have told her?”

“Hopefully that I’m your girlfriend,” Nicole said.

“You want to be my girlfriend?”

“Of course I do,” Nicole said, grinning.  “Don’t get me wrong, all this clandestine making out is really hot, but I think it’s about time you made an honest woman out of me.”

Waverly blushed at that, hard.  “Okay,” she agreed.  “When I talk to Wynonna later, I will tell her about my new girlfriend.”

Nicole smiled as she looked at Waverly and took her in.

Waverly took Nicole’s hand on the table.  She hadn’t felt the most comfortable in her house since the raid, but having Nicole there definitely helped.

“Hey, what’s this ring you always wear?”

Nicole looked down and saw Waverly start to fiddle with the large, green ring on Nicole’s right ring finger.

“It’s nothing,” Nicole said, pulling her hand back.  Waverly looked a bit hurt at the motion.  “It’s a personal thing.  A family thing.  A long story.”

“And we’ve probably had enough of those for today, eh?”

Nicole exhaled a laugh, relieved that Waverly let it go.  “Yeah, probably.”

Nicole’s radio went off, cutting the comfortable silence that had settled in the room.  It sounded like a bunch of police jargon to Waverly and the sound quality was terrible and scratchy, but Nicole appeared to understand it all and sprang into action.

“Duty calls,” Nicole said.  She stood up, pulled herself together.

Waverly went to stand, too, but Nicole motioned for her to sit.

“No, you stay put,” Nicole said.  She crossed to Waverly’s side of the table and kissed her head.  “Take care of yourself, okay?  I’ll pick you up when I get off work, but take it easy until then.”

“Okay, okay,” Waverly said.  “I’m fine, though.”

Nicole gave Waverly a look over her shoulder as she left and Waverly shot back an equally lighthearted look.  But when Nicole turned back to face the door, Waverly’s face fell as she studied this person she thought she knew well, but was now not so sure.

**-WE-**

Wynonna sat in the kitchen drinking whiskey after she got home that night.  When Nicole had gotten back to the station, she mentioned something about going out with Waverly and some friends that night.  Wynonna figured she’d stay up until Waverly got home.

She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, but eventually the front door opened and Waverly walked in.

“Hey,” Wynonna said, standing immediately.  She walked over and tried to take Waverly’s coat and bag, but Waverly didn’t let them go.  “How was your night?”

“Good,” Waverly said.

“Good,” Wynonna said.  “Who were you with?  Some of Nicole’s friends?”

Waverly gave her a look.  “We need to talk.”

“Okay,” Wynonna said, voice sounding a bit nervous.  She motioned toward the kitchen.  “Step into my office.”

Waverly followed Wynonna into the kitchen and sat down, watching Wynonna as she poured Waverly a glass of water.

“What’s up?” Wynonna asked, placing the glass in front of Waverly.

“I like girls,” Waverly said.

Wynonna nodded, chuckling a bit.  “I know.”

“I know you know, but there was more to that conversation,” Waverly continued.  “I’ve been doing some research and I think the labels I most identify with are bisexual or pansexual, with those both used as umbrella terms that also include my romantic orientation.”

Wynonna looked a bit stunned.  She wanted to understand, but this was very new to her.  She was trying, but it was a lot of terms that she wasn’t familiar with.

“Okay.”

“I talked to Nicole,” Waverly said.  “And she really helped me figure out what all these terms mean and what they mean to me.”

“That’s good,” Wynonna said.  “That’s really good.  I’m glad you’re figuring things out.”

“And, Nicole’s my girlfriend.”

Wynonna almost choked on her whiskey.

“Oh, come on,” Waverly said.  “We haven’t exactly been subtle about it.”

“I thought you were just really friendly!” Wynonna said.  “Like, I don’t know, really close best friends.  Gal pals.  Something.”

Waverly laughed.  “No, not quite.  Nedley’s couch can attest to that.”

“What?!” Wynonna asked.  She thought better of it.  “You know what, never mind.  I’m happy for you two crazy kids and all, but I draw the line at hearing about your sexcapades on Nedley’s couch.”

Waverly smirked, then drank her water.  She held the glass on the table with both hands firmly around it, but her face didn’t show discomfort.  There was a comfortable silence between the sisters.

“How are you feeling?” Wynonna asked, nodding toward Waverly’s side.

“Better,” Waverly said.  “It’s definitely healing up, it’s just going to take a while.  Nicole helped change the bandage earlier, so I’m good with that until the morning.”

“Good, good,” Wynonna said.  There was another bit of silence, then Wynonna spoke again.  “Listen, I know things have been weird with Willa being back, but you’re still my baby sister.  I love you and accept you and want you around no matter what.”

Waverly looked at Wynonna for a long moment.

“I don’t know Willa,” Waverly said.  “I mean, think about it.  The one person in our whole family who I know the most is you, and you haven’t exactly been the most consistent presence in my life.  Well, I mean, I guess you have, compared to everyone else.  But, I don’t know Willa.  I don’t really remember what she was like.  I wasn’t totally sure of what she looked like until she came back.”

Wynonna looked down, jaw clenched, determined not to cry.  She knew all of this that Waverly was saying, on some level.  But it was different to hear Waverly say it and hear how much it all meant to her.

“Almost my entire life, basically all of my life that I remember was spent with just you,” Waverly said.  “And Gus and Curtis and Shorty, obviously.  But you were the only family I had.  I didn’t have anyone else and I didn’t really remember anyone else, and it took a really long time but I accepted that.”  She looked into her glass.  “Willa was only ever an idea to me.  She was more an idea in my head based on how everyone else talked about her than she was my own memories.  It’s weird for me that she’s back, and you two have so much history that I’m just not a part of.”

“Willa is not replacing you,” Wynonna said.

“She was your best friend growing up,” Waverly said.  “She was the person you were closest to.  I understand you wanting to pick that up again from where you left off, I do.”

“But that doesn’t mean I’m not here with you.”

Waverly didn’t speak, but she gave Wynonna a look that just wasn’t neutral.  It was a challenge, maybe, or a protest.  It called for more explanation.

“Coming back here has always been hard for me,” Wynonna said.  “And yeah, I was planning on coming for Curtis’ funeral and getting the hell out of here.  But I stayed for you.”

“We were the only family we had for fifteen years,” Waverly said.  “And it’s like we barely know each other.”

Wynonna looked heartbroken at that.

“You didn’t stay for me,” Waverly said, her voice not at all accusatory.  It was very matter-of-fact, and that made it worse for Wynonna to hear.  “You stayed because Dolls made you work with him.  You didn’t want me involved in this.  I’m not just your kid sister, though.  I’m a lot more than that.”

“I know,” Wynonna said.  “And I’m sorry.  I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to see you for who you are, and not just as my baby sister.  I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too,” Waverly said.  “I should’ve said all this before now.  I love you, Wynonna.”

Wynonna froze.  It was only for a second, but it was long enough for Waverly to notice.

Wynonna didn’t know the last time Waverly said that and meant it.  Sure, she’d said it in passing, in the way you thank someone close to you for a favor.  But that’s different.  Wynonna knew that Waverly cared about her – Waverly cared about everyone, even people she hated.  Wynonna knew that, too, and the thought that Waverly hated her, however justified they both knew that feeling would be, was enough to wake Wynonna up at night.

She had resigned herself to it, though.  She has said “I love you” to Waverly and meant it, even through all the growth she’s seen Waverly have since Wynonna’s been back.  Wynonna knew that there were two different versions of Waverly – the Waverly that existed in Wynonna’s head, that texted on holidays and birthdays and otherwise at least once a month while Wynonna was away.  Then there was the Waverly that was actually Waverly, the Waverly that got a university degree and a girlfriend and all sorts of hidden depths that Wynonna didn’t see.  But she was starting to try to, and want to.

Waverly knew that, too.  For a long time, she was content to let Wynonna see what she wanted to see.  Wynonna was never really around, anyway, so it didn’t really matter if she knew all of Waverly’s closely held secrets or desires or goals.  Waverly was content, or at least not massively unhappy, with her life before Wynonna came back.  And when Wynonna did come back, she’d help her break the curse.  That could be accomplished without Waverly having to share herself with someone who wasn’t really around.

Waverly didn’t hate Wynonna.  She’s not sure she ever had, she’s not sure she would be capable of that.  She knew deep down she probably hated her mother for leaving, and she probably hated her father for how he treated everyone, but even that was hard to admit.  She was angry at Wynonna, sure, and bitter that Wynonna was the chosen one and Waverly wasn’t.  She was angry that Wynonna left and made Waverly grow up without her consistently around.  She was angry that she did have to hide things from Wynonna, just because it was safer than trying to share things with someone who wasn’t always around to see the turnout.

But Wynonna was back, and she was probably going to stick around.  This was the longest span of time Wynonna and Waverly had spent in the same place in who knows how long.  Things were changing between them.  There had always been a sisterly bond but it now was like they were becoming friends.

“I love you, Waves,” Wynonna replied.


End file.
